Sunday, January 6, 2008

The Best of British Scrapbooking Contest 2007

Since 2004, I've been running The Best of British Scrapbooking, a contest I started in the UK to spotlight new talent. When I began the contest, people wondered if there was really enough talent – and enough scrapbookers – in the UK to support a competition. As the days ticked down closer to the contest deadline, I worried a bit. But I shouldn’t have. There was a huge stack of entries, and my judges and I worked all day to make our selections.

Two of those judges Mary Anne Walters and Shimelle Laine went on to work as Design Team Members for ScrapBook inspirations, a UK magazine. And ScrapBook inspirations went on to host the contest, announcing it, collecting the entries, coming up with the prizes, showcasing the winners.But I’m still the judge. And choosing a few winners was really hard because the field was so terrific. My “Overall Winner” was Klara Wilson. Her “Reaching 18” page was phenomenal. She put her heart and soul into the layout, describing how after an illness she'd finally reached a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 18, which meant she was once again on the road to health.

Her Grandma Olga page was equally impressive. Economical with words, Klara wrote, "Grandma Olga used to say, 'Make the most of opportunities in your life.'"

By mixing patterned paper with stitching and flowers, Klara told us a lot about her grandmother.

Over the next months, I’ll share more of the winners’ work. Prepare to be knocked out. I always am!

I'm very often impressed with the quality of talent "out there." I walk around at quilt shows with my mouth hanging open, awestruck at the creativity and skill of seemingly ordinary people -- are there really any "ordinary people"? It's wonderful that you are encouraging scrapbookers and its exciting to see the results of a contest such as you started. It's a *lot* of work -- more than I'd be willing to put in -- but also a terrific way to get some publicity.

Many of the past participants have gone on to make a career of design work. And I know that some folks have worked together with friends to "bump" up their design skills to participate. Others have simply found this encouraging. And the display of their work at some of the scrapbook conferences is always a hit. One woman told me this really validated how she was spending her free time.

Yeah, it can be a lot of work. The first year, it nearly did me in. But that year, one woman who was dying of cancer got to see a life goal: Her work published. I know we made a difference in her life.